A routine night aboard the 40-foot Prime Time quickly turned into an epic fishing saga during the Mobile Big Game Fishing Club’s annual Billfish Limited tournament in early August. What started as a sleep-ready drift in the early morning hours suddenly became a full-on showdown, with a rare deep-water fish setting the stage for a potential state record.
At around 4 a.m. on August 1, 27-year-old Taylor Guidry noticed something was amiss. Fishing line was mysteriously slipping off the rod, but there was no clicker noise to alert the crew. It wasn’t until he investigated that the action began. Soon, his dad Chad, cousin Justin, and the boat’s captain, Steve Pixley, were on deck trying to reel in what turned out to be a surprise heavyweight.
According to Outdoor Life, the escolar took off with nearly 2,000 feet of line before the team finally began gaining ground. The deep-water tussle paused at a water “thermocline” (where the water temperature changes rapidly) with the fish holding its position about 300 feet down, leading to a standoff that felt more like a championship tug-of-war than a simple fishing trip.
Once the escolar was brought aboard, Wide Open Spaces reported that it thrashed so hard one angler joked the tail could have broken a foot. Weigh-in confirmed the scale-shocking detail: 161.6 pounds, topping the existing Alabama state record of a 102-lb, 10-oz escolar caught in 2023, according to Alabama Outdoors State Saltwater Records.
AL.com reported that the fish was weighed at the tournament site in Alabama, where paperwork was completed for record submission. The Prime Time crew decided to donate the catch to scientific research, with Guidry explaining to Outdoor Life that its rarity and size made it valuable for study.
Rather than a traditional mount, Guidry opted for an ink print of the fish, created by local artist Harley Van Hyning, a choice he said captures the memory without taking up half the living room.
Barker Boat Works, congratulated the crew on the record-breaking catch in a Facebook post.
“Congratulations to @primetime.destin on their Gulf of America and Alabama state record Escolar (161.6lbs) in the @thembgfc tournament this weekend! First fish on their new 40 HPC and it’s a record breaker. Great work guys, many more to come!”
Sherri Blevins is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You may contact her at [email protected].
